Short Stories 365/341

“The After Party” by Jameson Currier from The Haunted Heart and Other Tales, Chelsea Station Editions 2014. Originally published by Lethe Press, 2009.

White Party. Miami. To set the correct tone we’re introduced to a group of six friends: Luke, Mike, Dan, Cliff, Frankie and Raul, who are hanging out at a sidewalk café, checking out the passersby. I understand the choice but it did make keeping track of who was who very difficult. I was relieved when the action settled on just Luke and Raul.

The setting is the perfect one for the twist employed at the end. I don’t think it would have worked nearly so well against a more conventional backdrop. Luke and Raul down pills like candy. It renders Luke an unreliable narrator and makes the final scene plausible.